Resident Evil Origins
by Dracomancer
Summary: The bombing of Raccoon City left everyone with their own story of surviving, this is one of those stories. A girl named Ruthanne must survive the horrors of the outbreak and make it out but what becomes of her fate when she falls into Wesker's hands?
1. Outbreak

**Outbreak**

The year 1998; I'll never forget it. It was the year that changed my life and also the life of many others. My name is Ruthanne Walkin. I was born in 1980 and was raised in Raccoon City. I was only 18 when the incident with the outbreak occurred. I'll never forget that day. Ironically it was the brightest of days, the weather was beautiful, and I had just graduated from high school. Usually ceremonies like this were done later in the evening, but the auditorium that our graduation was going to be held at had already booked times for another event so our graduation was held in the early morning. I was looking forward to getting into college, naturally wanting to join the police department and hopefully rank up to be a top official officer for the government. Ever since the pharmaceutical company, Umbrella, came around, it always sparked my interest to do undercover work of some kind, possibly becoming a detective. I always enjoyed solving things and did heavy research of my own on Umbrella. I learned a lot more than the average citizen and even had gotten tid bits on a man named Ozwell E. Spencer. From what I found he was the leader of the corporate giant. I also found tid bits on a man named Albert Wesker and William Birkin whom also worked for the corporation as leading research managers, but not much was said on either of them. From photos I found of them on online research, Wesker was the one that stuck out the most, at least physically considering he was the only one wearing sunglasses, but I also had a gut feeling about him and I wasn't sure what it was or what the feeling was pertaining to. Something about him and doing research on him had me hooked from the very beginning, but I had no idea at the time just how involved I would truly become. From everything I had gathered, I never trusted Umbrella and always felt that they'd end up selling things they shouldn't on the black market, but what those things were, I could never dig up enough information on to put together a solid proof theory. My father had connections though seeing as he worked as one of the senior engineers for the power plant that powered not only the whole city, but the Umbrella Corporation as well. On rare occasions he'd bring me to his work station and I looked up files in the computer database and that's where my research on Umbrella began. I was never skeptical of something as simple as a pharmaceutical company that is until I found something on the database that you couldn't normally find in a local newspaper, despite the company having Raccoon City as its hometown. What I was found was rather startling. Umbrella had started research on viruses. No big deal right? They're business was medicine so naturally they'd have such research, but it was then my eyes laid upon the very sentence in a file I had read, "….bio-organic weapons research…." The only thing that came to mind when I had read that was _bio weapons_. There was no further information in the database, but I knew what I had read would not bode well.

I would never forget that sinking feeling the day I discovered such information. Somehow I knew something terrible was going to happen, but that was a year or so before graduation and with a well over a year to go by, I didn't think much of it anymore. Since then my father had never taken me back to his work place. He knew the nose digging I had done and was afraid that I would dig too deep into something that could prove to be harmful and none of my business. I understood his feelings, but this was the line of work I was going to get into eventually so I didn't think much of it, course I was also still very young at the time and as they say; young and stupid. I was determined, I wanted to know more, but they also say be careful what you wish for and it wasn't until 1998 that I got more than I bargained for. Graduation….as beautiful as a day it was, it was very depressing for me because I didn't want to say goodbye to all my friends. I knew that day we would all go our separate ways, only a few left behind to be long term friends for the future. My family and some of my relatives were there at the ceremony. After about 3 hours it ended, I had my laughs and cries, said goodbye to everyone, and then we went to a restaurant for the celebration. I thought that maybe the weird tension I felt in my chest was just from feeling depressed about graduation, but once we got to the restaurant it got worse. We sat down to eat, but it didn't take long before I had to use the restroom. I didn't actually have to go, but I needed some time to take a breather and collect my composure. As I was walking to the bathroom I heard a sudden scream as a woman ran out from the door. "What's wrong?" I asked. The woman was rather frantic as she stammered her answer. "A…rr-r-rat! A rat is in the bathroom!" I sighed of relief and rolled my eyes a bit, thinking that it was a bit ridiculous to be afraid of a rat. "Is there anyone else in there?" The woman collected herself before she finally answered back, "Y-Yes. One other woman is in there. I think she got bit." "Uh oh, that's not good. What if it had rabies?" The woman responded back, "I don't know, but I'm not going back in there to find out." "Alright. Go get a manager or something. They should have a med kit around. I'll go in there to see if she's okay." The woman nodded as we parted ways and I entered into the bathroom only to be confronted with a very odd smell. I heard the scuffling of tiny feet followed by scratching noises that seemed to emit from the inside of the walls. I figured the rat crawled away and I happened upon the woman that was said to be in the bathroom. She didn't say a word, but I could hear heavy breathing and her back was turned to me. Something wasn't quite right especially with her stance. She stood kind of crooked and her head was tilted as if her head was leaning on her left shoulder. Her arms hung dangling at her sides and I couldn't help but notice the odd tint of color in her skin and it was then I noticed that there was a bite mark near her right ankle. She grunted and moaned at times and refused to give me eye contact. "Uh…miss? Are you okay?" Her only response was another soft moan and the first thought that hit my mind was _zombie_. But what a stupid thought right? I mean, how could zombies exist? However, the situation was just too…_odd_. I couldn't help but think about movies like Night of the Living Dead that came out many years ago or old horror movies, but there was no way. Living dead? Come on. I shook the silly thoughts from my head as I went over near the sinks and got a dry cloth towel and began to rinse it down.

I wasn't looking at her directly, but I could tell in my peripheral vision that she had finally turned around to look at me and still she said nothing and that sinking feeling I had all day had just doubled in impact. I tried to put it off though because I had my own beliefs religiously about the world and the thought of walking dead just…I just couldn't comprehend it. It contradicted everything I believed. The lady would have had to die for one thing and a bite from a rat is not going to bring you back to life. Right? Of course. And just when I had wiped all doubts in my mind, one second I had caught sight of the woman in the mirrors above the sinks and I'll never forget what I saw. The woman's jaw was missing and there was blood all over her chest. Just when you think your reflexes couldn't react any faster….mine _did_. I jolted at least a few feet away from her as shear fear gripped me. I never understood how people could freeze in place when they were clearly in danger, but then…then I understood that feeling. I couldn't help but just stand there in complete disbelief. I just couldn't comprehend what I was seeing. The woman's eyes were pure white, no pupils in sight; her skin was grey and peeling off, some of her bones showing through her skin. My thoughts at that moment were indescribable. How could this be possible? This _had_ to be a joke of some kind, a very good one at that, but her features….her horrific features they looked so _real_. Before I had a chance to even react or talk the woman suddenly growled at me and rushed at me with her hands. Thanks to defense classes I had taken since sophomore year, my immediate react was pushing her arms to the side with my right hand, while using my left hand to go above my right and punch at her face. She went back quite a few feet. She fell flat on her ass after colliding with the wall behind her and she laid upon the ground motionless. By then someone had finally come into the bathroom. It was a woman dressed in uniform, holding a first aid kit in her arms. She looked at me quizzically, "Is everything alright?" Before I could answer, although I had no idea what to say to her, the woman I had punched began to stagger back to her feet as her groans and moans were more audible this time and it was then I knew….we _had_ to get out of there and clear the restaurant and call for help or back up of some kind. If this situation was exactly what I thought it was and that the true fairy tale nightmares of zombies was suddenly a reality, I knew my family had to get to safety as soon as possible and get the police contacted, but then I realized how the hell would they believe me? If you go screaming to police that a zombie outbreak might occur they're going to laugh and send you to the sanitarium. I had to think of something more tangible that would get people to listen. I didn't want to give the uniformed woman a chance to argue with me so I quickly urged her outside the bathroom as she began to retort back, "Hey, what are you doing?!" I quickly looked around as stares and glares were shot my way from various restaurant customers. I didn't care at that point. Their safety as well as my family's was much more important than public behavior etiquette. A fire alarm was nearby as I quickly pulled it and screamed at everyone that there was a fire and to get out. The manager behind me obviously retorted back as she knew there was no fire, but I quickly covered her mouth to keep her from revealing the truth as I whispered in her ear rather sternly, "If you do as I say you'll most likely live! You've got to get out of here. That woman is sick with something and it could cause an epidemic. This is not a joke, not get out of here!" I didn't push the woman, but I encouraged her with a nudge in the right direction. Luckily she didn't fight back with me and did as I said and just in time for that infected woman to come out from the bathroom. I noticed her within seconds as I thrust my leg backwards with a strong back kick and sent her flying back into the bathroom. I shut the door closed and grabbed a chair and propped it under the door handle to keep it from opening.

By then customers were already scrambling and screaming about as they darted for the entrance to leave. I noticed my dad had sent my mom with my brother to leave, but my father came over to me to make sure I was alright.

**Ruthanne**: "Dad, remember when I asked you that if there was ever a time that something unbelievable happened that I would need you to believe me and I'm not making it up? Well, now is one of those times."

**Dad**: "What happened?"

**Ruthanne**: "You're going to think I'm playing a game but, there's a zombie in the bathroom."

**Dad**: "………What?"

**Ruthanne**: "There's a zombie…in…the bathroom."

"A zombie…" he said rather irritated. He gave me one of those quizzical looks and I had no idea how to convince him aside from just showing him the zombie, but I wasn't about to do so considering the risk of him getting bit or me for that matter.

**Ruthanne**: "Look, I know what you're thinking, but…"

**Dad**: "…I don't know what game you're playing, but you're going be really sorry once I…"

**Ruthanne**: "…I'm _not_/ playing a game. If you don't believe me then you can see it for yourself, but I'd rather you not because letting that thing loose is a very bad idea."

I was hoping he would listen to reason, that is if there was any reason to logically explain that the entire restaurant is empty and that I ruined my own graduation celebration because there is a zombie in the woman's bathroom, but there wasn't. And despite me trying to implore him to just take my words at face value, he stubbornly went to the bathroom door. I quickly went after him, but he angrily kept me at distance. He was going to make sure I wasn't playing some stupid game. My saving grace was the fact that the door had a miniature window on it so that he wouldn't have to actually open it, he could just look through the window and there in plain view was the zombie woman clawing her fingers at the door and her disfigurement could be clearly seen through the window. When dad saw the zombie, it left him with his jaw dropped. He was literally speechless, similar to how I reacted when I saw the zombie.

**Ruthanne**: "Okay…maybe it's not a zombie…maybe it is. Either way she's infected with _something_ and it looks pretty contagious to me. We need to get to mom and bro and..."

I was suddenly cut off by the sound of dad mumbling to himself about something, but it was quiet enough inside the restaurant that I caught what he was saying.

**Dad**: "It couldn't be. When Spencer said he was conducting bio-organic weapo…"

**Ruthanne**: "…wait. Did you just say Spencer? You mean Ozwell E. Spencer?"

**Dad**: "The little spout of research you did a year ago. I'm sure you already know what I'm talking about."

**Ruthanne**: "The Umbrella Corporation?"

**Dad**: "Yes."

It wasn't until he actually said it that I suddenly realized that he was probably right and it was then I remembered reading about Umbrella's bioorganic weapons research data that I had read about from before, which means that hunch I had so long ago wasn't just some imaginative paranoid thought. I knew something would go wrong, but I just had no idea what it pertained to.

**Ruthanne**: "Do you think Umbrella might have created something that got out?"

**Dad**: "Most likely. How did that woman get infected?"

**Ruthanne**: "The lady that was in there before that woman said the woman was bit by a rat."

**Dad**: "Umbrella has done countless experimentations on rats so it's likely that one of their rats got loose and now it's going to spread this _infection_ and…."

He paused for a moment and then walked up to me and placed his hands on my shoulders.

**Dad**: "I'm going to tell you to do something you're not going to like, but there isn't any choice so I need you to trust me."

I hesitantly nodded my head as a knot formed in my stomach.

**Dad**: "I need you to go with your mother and brother and get out of this city."

**Ruthanne**: "W-What?! No…dad…I'm not leaving you. I…"

**Dad**: "Listen to me. If this situation is what it appears to be, I need to get in contact with some people at my company before this explodes into an uncontrollable epidemic. You've got to…"

**Ruthanne**: "…I'm not leaving you!"

I was almost yelling with intensity. I loved my mother and brother, but I was closest to dad and I didn't want to leave him. I was confident that my mother and brother could make it out together. And before my father and I could speak further, strange sounds began to emit from outside the restaurant. It sounded like screaming and large booming sounds like an explosion went off nearby and it was then that my brother had entered back into the restaurant. His face was white as a ghost.

**Brother**: "Y-You…gotta come see this."

My father and I exchanged glances before we went rushing out of the restaurant and the sight to be seen was implausible. About half the lights of the city were blotted out, people were running down the streets, and there was garbage and pieces of paper strewn all over the main road we were on. Some windows in some nearby shops were broken out and there was a flipped car that was toppled over on a fire hydrant while a bus was crashed into the side of a building. It was like I was living in a horror survival game.

**Mother**: "What in heaven's name is going on?"

Although I had an answer for my mother, words could not come out of my mouth. I was too distracted with the atmosphere around us of the shear panic and fear emitting from each individual that ran by, screaming hysterically. It was then a woman on the other side of the street instantly screamed out "Zombies!". Her hand was held out as her finger pointed at the end of the major street and as we looked we saw a group of people who had the same disfiguring features as the zombie woman in the bathroom. Although they were still far away, they had that ever familiar dragging stance, grayish molding skin, bones revealed or hanging out as if they were broken, and pupils whited out. The very smell was overwhelming. It was the reek of death or more specifically the undead.

None of the citizens running by were even bothering with driving a car. They were too hysterical and scared. Dad approached my mom and said his goodbyes as tears formed down her eyes, not being able to comprehend what was really going on. My brother rushed to the driver's seat as my mother got in the passenger seat. I was well prepared to leave with dad, but he had _other_ intentions. Without warning dad had shoved me into the back of the car as my brother locked the doors to keep me from escaping. I was frantic. I just couldn't comprehend leaving my dad. The windows wouldn't go down and the locking mechanism was set to child safety so I couldn't even unlock my own door. And as my brother drove away, my father stood in the street giving me one last glance as his eyes spoke "goodbye." That was the straw that broke the camel's back. With one shove of my elbow I broke the window next to me as my brother jolted the steering wheel from the sound as the car swerved to the side. Luckily it didn't flip or sway as it jolted to a complete stop, leaving dark tread marks from behind the tires. I used that opportunity to break away the rest of the glass as I managed to get out of the window and onto the gravel. "What are you doing?!" my brother yelled as my mother cried out "Ruthanne!" They were quickly getting out of the car as I was on my way to leave.

**Mom**: "Wait daughter! Where are you going?"

**Ruthanne**: "I'm going back to dad!"

**Mom**: "In this mess?!"

**Ruthanne**: "I'm not going to leave him. If I go with him then maybe there's a chance he can survive."


	2. Leon Scott Kennedy

**Leon Scott Kennedy**

**Brother**: "He's an ex-marine. He can take care of himself."

**Ruthanne**: "I don't care! I'm going after him. You two can exit the city by car as far as you can go. Don't worry about me."

And it was then my mother broke down in tears. Just seeing her cry yanked at my heart as I didn't want to leave her. I sighed heavily as I gave her a long winded embrace, telling her I would be okay and that I would promise I would find them again as soon as I was done helping dad. My brother also embraced me as I was his only sibling.

**Ruthanne**: "I promise I'll get back to you two. Just don't die on me okay?"

Mom nodded her head and wiped her tears as they entered back into the car and drove off. And it was then my true journey had begun. As I looked back at the city behind me, it was becoming dusk and the sounds of cries and agony and hysteria and moaning was echoing the city. As much as I hated how this was affecting my family, simultaneously I was overwhelmed with the rush of adrenaline, feeling that finally my life had given me something to truly grasp onto, that life wasn't always so dull and dragging. I took a breath and said my prayers and then I began to run down the street, trying to avoid what zombies that came my way. Luckily for me I was physically fit, well in my being, and could run no problem. I felt that this was it. If I was to train to survive in the field of being an agent, that this would be my ultimate test of initiation. Despite the horror of what was going on, I couldn't help but be tickled by the idea that I could put on a resume that I survived a zombie outbreak. I mean could you imagine? Since most of the trouble was on the bottom grounds, I found climbing up the building ladders and scouting through the rooftops was a much better idea. It didn't get me too vastly far, but it got me a good few blocks of footage and also gave me a chance to search out the area to see if I could spot out my dad, but he was nowhere to be found. Eventually though I had to climb back down, but to my surprise I ended up right at a pawn shop. The glass in the front of the store was broken in multiple places and the lights inside were blacked out. I did a quick search inside to see if there was anything I could use to help me along the way, but all the guns or ammunition was taken. "Damn it…" I muttered under my breath. Of all the things I knew I would need, and it wasn't anywhere to be seen. However there were some nicely sized knives strewn along the floor as the lights from outside flickered on their shiny metal surface. "That'll do." I picked a couple up and slid one through my belt and slid another into a side sleeve pocket of my boot. I made sure not to make my stay too welcome, knowing that there was a good chance that a zombie might be inside the dark corners of the store. So I took the knives, gave another good look around, and quickly left. It was dark outside now and the sky was lit with sparks of fires on buildings off in the areas and smoke drifting amongst the sky. The sense of hope had long escaped Raccoon City now as I ventured closer to my dad's work place. It was the only place I knew he would be and my only chance to make sure he could escape along with me.

The streets I crossed were now filled with blood along the ground and gravel and rock and broken glass, but in a scene like this, normally you would expect to find dead bodies of victims, but not this time. There wasn't any bodily mess of any kind to be found. Just blood….and the stench of death accompanied by the sweet scent of pure fear that had leaked into the air. It was eerie and quiet in the areas I had gone into as I approached the road that lead down to the power plant my father worked at. I was relieved to finally come in sight of it as I saw it far off on the hill it sat on, but it gave nothing less of an unwelcoming atmosphere. I didn't see any zombies in sight of the plant. Maybe the infection hadn't reached it yet or….maybe it had already cleared out of the area. I had made it so far and yet just when I had made it to the front gate, it was then my body decided that it needed a break. Of all the times to wear out on me now…_now_ was it. There was a trailer parked near the front of the gate. It was crashed halfway through. "Heh, at least I have something to climb over the gate." I breathed heavily from running so much and I was in dire need of a rest, but I was frustrated because I was so close to dad and yet I couldn't get my body to go any further. I slowly approached the trailer as I neared the front of it, finding the glass in the driver and passenger seat completely crushed in. There was blood all over the driver's seat, but no body to be found. "Well that's comforting." I muttered to myself. Blood with no body was never a good sign, but the trailer wasn't that big and I wasn't bound to look inside it, so I merely propped myself up against the side to take a breather for myself. In the moment to myself it gave me a chance to listen to my surroundings. The screams of the citizens could still be heard a mile away in a faint echo of cries. I wasn't even sure what to think about the situation anymore. Was this really happening? Were there really zombies lurking around in Raccoon City? I wasn't stupid enough to delude myself with the idea that this might just all be a bad dream, but it was becoming harder to fathom what was really going on here as I began to ponder on the possibilities of what Umbrella Corporation was really up to. Bio-organic weapons research….virus….outbreak….zombies…terrorism….was this terrorism? It didn't really feel like it. This felt more like an accident than anything else. Politically speaking, even if this was a terrorist attack, what motive was there? Our government and economy have been just fine for the last 5 years or so. I never recalled any attacks from neighboring countries or riots of any kind. Racism always exists, but you practically never heard about it in the news. So many thoughts had gone through my mind that it had actually sent me in a deep trance and I started to daydream and in doing so, my guard was completely let down. I don't know if it was mere seconds or mere minutes, but out of nowhere I suddenly heard a voice scream in the distance, "Get down!" My senses jolted me back to reality as I suddenly looked up to see a man in a R.P.D. uniform pointing a gun at me, but in the midst of the distraction the man had caused me, it was then I saw in my peripheral vision something coming at me from my right side. The shear element of surprise had caused me to jolt to the ground as a gunshot rang out and the head on the zombie that came out at me exploded and blood spattered everywhere. It took a moment before the body of the zombie had lost the control from its nerves and it thudded to the ground. It wasn't what happened that had gripped me with shock, but what _could_ have happened that scared me the most. Of all the stupid things to do in a time like this was to let my guard down, even for a moment. And in the midst of beating myself up over it, that same voice yelled out again as I heard the sound of footsteps coming toward me. "Are you alright?!" I suddenly looked up to see the man standing above me. It was comforting to see a police officer from the Raccoon City Department finally doing what their job entitled them to do; to _protect and serve_. Come to think of it, he was the first cop I had seen since I got to the gate, aside from the cops that I saw that were zombified.

"You gotta be more careful." The voice spoke out once more as he held out a hand to me to help me up. He had blondish brown hair that cut evenly in the front, one side of his bangs hanging just a tad longer than the other side and they sat perfectly over his eyes, the cut of his hair very short in the back. He was rather good looking if I do say so myself, and his voice was oddly soothing, even in that moment of shock. He gave me a smile, still holding out his hand. I simply smirked as I got myself up and dusted myself off, trying to wipe what blood I could off my face and hair.

**Ruthanne**: "Thank you. I'm sure if you hadn't intervened I would have been bitten, but what the hell are you doing way out here? Shouldn't you be in the city trying to….well….help people?"

"Well being here wasn't exactly of choice. And the few I thought I could help…well…lets just say they were beyond being saved. This was the safest route and I finally found a way to maneuver around the city without getting bombarded by those….things, but I could ask you the same thing."

**Ruthanne**: "First things first. If someone does the courtesy of helping me, I gotta at least know their name. You can call me Ruth. What's yours?"

**Leon**: "Leon. Leon S. Kennedy."

However, as nice as our little chat was, we were quickly interrupted by the sounds of groaning and moaning. We both quickly looked around as to our horror a hoard of zombies was gathering to the left of us and to the right of us in the distance.

**Ruth**: "Son of a bitch."

**Leon**: "So much for introductions. Come on, we can still cut around on the east side and it should take us through the forest area."

**Ruth**: "Good luck surviving, but I can't go with you."

**Leon**: "What? But there's no other way out of this area. You've got to trust me."

**Ruth**: "My father might still be in that facility. I've got to get in there and hel…"

**Leon**: "…might be? Going in there is a suicide mission. You're going to get yourself killed!"

**Ruth**: "No time to argue Leon. You either go with me or without me. I'm not leaving my father in there to die!"

The man took quick glances at the zombies that were starting to draw near, then at me, and then at the zombies again. He sighed deeply and reluctantly he finally decided to go with me either out of some misplaced obligation to do the duty he was trained to do, or he genuinely wanted to help me…or both. He could have easily just left, but he didn't. I was used to helping others, but it was rare I got the same in return aside from what your parents naturally provided you. I took quick notice of how he was quite a gentlemen, helping me to get up the backside of the trailer first, to catching me from jumping down over the fence. He was a bit quicker than I was and his tugging helped me to keep up with his pace. I was still rather tired from running well over a mile to get here in the first place. However, as nice as this was, it felt like a cliché Hollywood movie in the sense that even in the most horrifying of situations, sweet moments of nothings still managed to seep in. Go figure, but I wasn't bound to turn down a helping hand. If they wanted to risk helping me even at the risk of their life, that was solely their decision, not mine. However, it was greatly appreciated. It didn't take long before we got to the entrance of the plant, which happened to be conveniently ajar. I was going to enter first, but Leon was already ahead of me. "Stay here. I'll check the area rea…" His words were suddenly interrupted from me walking past him.

**Leon**: "W-Wait!"

**Ruth**: "No offense Mr. R.P.D. in shining armor, but I'm not exactly the damsel in distress type. I was going to come here regardless of you showing up or not. I've been trained in hand to hand combat and all that jazz and my father taught me how to use a gun so I would appreciate it if you didn't treat me otherwise."

He stood kind of baffled for a moment as his eyebrows arched in astonishment. I guess he wasn't used to being around a woman, rather young in age still, that was able to assert herself.

**Leon**: "Fair enough. Then I guess you'll need this." And out popped a gun from a second holster he had as he handed it to me.

**Leon**: "You might need it anyway just in case we get separated. And sorry, I didn't mean to offend."

**Ruth**: "It's alright. Don't get me wrong though. It's not often I see displays of chivalry so it was a bit refreshing, but our chances of getting out of here will be doubled if I can make myself properly useful, so, thanks for the gun."

**Leon**: "Just try not to shoot me in the process."

**Ruth**: "As long as you aren't in my way." I said with rather playful banter as I cocked the gun, readying it for use.

And with that said, we entered the facility with caution as the darkness of the main hall quickly engulfed us in its cold eerie grip. There was piping everywhere and the air smelled stale. The only light that was on was the red tinted emergency lighting system and some electrical sparks that were flying from random broken electrical units or power generators that were nearby. It was rather noisy inside from the emition of the power plant still running. I wasn't the worrying type, but the fact that it was difficult to hear any zombies that might be in the area, was a bit unsettling. On the other hand, if it was hard for us to hear anything over the noise that means it might be equally as hard for any zombies to hear us. To play it safe though, Leon and I decided to rely on body language and signals in order to communicate versus trying to yell over the noise and possibly grabbing the attention of anything around us. I always thought it was silly of dad to give me a tour of the place every time I visited, but now I was forever grateful because now I could lead Leon throughout the facility without ever getting lost. We ventured down many long corridors that were encapsulated with piping that seemed endless no matter where we went. The red tinted dim lighting gave different affects to the atmosphere and it wasn't long before we found appearance of blood smears on the ground and on the walls that appeared pitch black. We came upon the main hallway that was rather lengthy with multiple rooms on both sides that lead into the cafeteria. Before moving on to the cafeteria, I investigated each room that were merely filled with office materials, blacked out computer screens, blinking lit control panels, and strewn papers all over the rooms. However, venturing into the last room, it took me a minute to realize it was my dad's office. I didn't recognize it at first because I wasn't used to seeing it trashed let alone dimmed with red tinting darkness that gave a daunting mental warning. And there on his desk was his laptop. It was closed so I merely opened it to see if I could find a clue as to what he was possibly doing, but as I opened it I found what appeared to be bloody fingerprints on the keyboard and a flashing screen that kept blinking a warning stating "No Data Found". A knot formed in my stomach again as I kept staring at the bloody finger prints. _"Is dad still alive?"_ was the question that kept echoing in my mind as I entered a daydream like state of mentality. "What's wrong?" A voice called out to me as I had almost forgotten that Leon was accompanying me. I stammered a bit before I finally got words to emit from my mouth.

**Ruth**: "Th…T-This is my dad's office. I…I don't know if he's even alive."

**Leon**: "Those are his fingerprints?"

**Ruth**: "I…I don't know."

He could tell by the sickening look on my face that I was in a rather blank state of mind. I felt like breaking down and crying because the very thought of my father being dead was enough to paralyze me, but then I felt a gentle warm hand on my shoulder.

**Leon**: "Don't worry. We'll find your father. We've made it this far. He's got to be somewhere. Maybe…maybe that's not even his blood. Maybe it's someone else's."

**Ruth**: "Maybe." I said solemnly.

**Leon**: "Come on…" he said as he gently tugged at my shoulder "…better get a move on. The longer we wait here the less of a chance we'll find him."

**Ruth**: "You're right." I said more optimistically. "Let's go."

Giving one quicker glance around the room to make sure dad didn't leave any scrap of information I might need, we left the room, but it was at the very last second that I noticed on the door on the way out that there was a letter pinned to the door. I paused for a moment. It had to be from dad. Who else would it be from? I didn't want to read it. It gave me a bad feeling, but if I wanted to know what was going on I had no choice. So I slowly picked it off the door. It read,

_Ruthanne, if you are reading this message than I implore you to turn around and go back to your brother and mother. I've been bitten by one of the zombies and I don't know how much time I have left before the virus in me completely takes over. I can only tell you so much because time is not a luxury for me right now. I was passed information that Raccoon City has been ordered to be air bombed in order to wipe out the devastation that has been brought here. As we both suspected, Umbrella Corporation created a virus that broke out through rats. You have to leave this city before its obliterated. There is nothing you can do to help me now. Save yourself. I love you Ruthanne. I always will. You will find a final envelope from me underneath the laptop that gives my last words to you and life lessons I hope you will take to heart. Goodbye. _

I tried to read the message out loud to Leon, but half way through, I fell to my knees and broke into tears. I was too distraught to read the rest as I handed it to Leon. He hesitated at first; feeling that maybe it was too personal to read, but he did so anyway and it didn't take long before a horrified look crossed his face. I took that as his way of saying that he had read the part that was more important. I was stuck in a personal mental paradox. As much as I wanted some way to save dad, I knew there was nothing I could do. He was going to die and I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to him one last time. I was paralyzed with distraught. From the look on Leon's face I could tell he was speechless, but at that point I didn't know what to do. Seeing as how I wasn't even inching in any movement, Leon went over to the laptop and got the envelope my father left behind. He solemnly handed it to me. I held it in my hand as tear drops dropped upon the envelope, leaving behind dark spots on the paper. "So far…for nothing…" I stammered between sobs. Leon kneeled down in front of me as he placed firm hands on my shoulders.

**Leon**: "I can't pretend to know what you're feeling right now, but your dad's efforts to warn you about the city being bombed will be in vain if you die here."

I slowly looked into his eyes and was flushed over with his sincerity. He really _did_ care.

**Leon**: "Don't you have any other family that might still be alive?"

And it was then my mind suddenly remembered my mom and brother. They were still alive; at least I hoped they were.

**Ruth**: "Mom and…my brother…"

**Leon**: "I'm guessing they were still alive when you left them right? There's still a chance to get back to them and make sure they make it out of the city before it gets destroyed. I know you're distraught about your dad, but you'll have to save that for another time. Come on, we better get out of here."

With his help I finally managed back to my feet, resentfully. And just as Leon was tugging on my arm to get me out of the room, he was suddenly pummeled to the side out of sight. Snapping to my senses I quickly pulled out my gun and rushed out of the room to find Leon on the ground with a zombie on top of him as he struggled to get it off. Not wanting to risk a bullet shooting completely threw the zombie's body and into Leon, I rushed over and kicked with all my strength into the zombie's side, causing it to fly into the wall to its right. Without hesitation I aimed my gun and fired it in the head, stopping it _permanently_. Leon was left with his jaw dropped as he just kind of gazed at me. "Nice shot." He stammered. "Thanks." I replied. "Guess your father trained you well." He said. "Actually I taught myself, but yes, he showed me how to at least load one." I retorted. He got up and dusted himself off, but the look on his face was quickly replaced with the expression of as if he had seen a ghost. "What is it?" I asked as I turned around and found my question was quickly answered. "Oh god." My lips muttered as I saw the entire hallway packed with zombies slowly slumping towards us. "Come on!" Leon urgently yelped as he motioned me to get moving. We both ran straight for the cafeteria, but as we entered in, apparently there was a welcoming committee that awaited us. The cafeteria was just as scattered with zombies as the corridor was. "This way!" I yelled, quickly leading him to the kitchen area and by grace the room was empty. I closed the door to it behind us and had Leon help me push over a rather heavy table to keep the door from being opened. I remembered on the top of the wall there was a rather large ventilation shaft. Leon got in a squatting position against the wall to help me stand up and pry open the vent cover. Once that was done we helped each other enter into the shaft as we began to crawl our way out of the facility, hoping the vents would lead us there. Every so often we would crawl over an open airway that was vented off to give us a view of what we were passing over. Unfortunately the vents kept cutting off with T-sections and ultimately had us at a loss as to where we were really going. We had been crawling for quite a while before I stopped mid way and turned slightly in his direction while leaning on my side.

**Ruth**: "Leon listen. If we get separated for whatever reason, don't try to come find me. I appreciate the fact that you're risking your life to help me, but I can't have you trying to find me in some gigantic facility and expect to get us both out alive within enough time to escape the bombing of the city."

**Leon**: "I've made it this far with you. I couldn't possibly think of leaving you behi…"

**Ruth**: "…promise me you won't try to come find me!"

He kept silent, I guess hesitating on his answer. I know he was struggling between picking from two evils; we get separated, he tries to find me, but risk getting us caught in the bomb and dieing anyway with a zilch chance of getting out of the city in time versus us getting separated and him making it out on his own and leaving me to possibly die.

**Ruth**: "Listen. You're one of the few good people out there that even gives a damn about complete strangers and if someone like you were to die, who would be left to help anyone else that's trying to survive in the city? There are others who have a better chance than me at this point. "

**Leon**: "But I…"

**Ruth**: "…if I can't get to my mother and brother first, then maybe _you_ can."

I could tell Leon was ready to still retort back, but I think this one topped the cake. He knew what the chances were, but I could tell he was struggling between pure chances based on faith versus just accepting the situation for what it is. As much faith as I had for survival I couldn't place that same faith on the risk of someone else's life.

**Ruth**: "If we get separated, and you can't promise me that you'll leave me and make it out on your own, then at least promise me that you'll try to find my mother and brother and help them out of the city. I don't expect you to find them, but I can tell you at least where they were when I left them and show you a picture of what they look like."

**Leon**: sighing heavily "Are you sure?"

**Ruth**: "Yes."

**Leon**: "Alright. I promise if and only _if_ we get separated, I'll try to get out and find your mother and brother."

**Ruth**: "Thank you."

He gave me a nod and a smile as I pulled out my wallet and showed him a picture of my family. He stared at it for a good while before giving it back to me, trying to engrave the image in his head. I turned back around and started crawling again.

**Ruth**: "If you want I can give you the pictu…"

**Leon**: "…it's alright. I'll remember. Besides at this point I think that's the only picture you'll have left."

**Ruth**: "Good, because I don't have exactly the same type of keen memory like that. So, how long have you been in the force?"

**Leon**: "One day. Actually it's less than that, at least until it hits midnight."

**Ruth**: "What?! You mean to tell me that this is your first day on the job?!"

**Leon**: "Yeah, pretty much. I never imagined that this would be my first day on the job; bunch of zombie like people running around. I just…I just can't believe this is all happening."

He couldn't see the front of my face, seeing as how I was leading, but I had tears coming down my eyes. I tried my best to hold back sobs as I replied, "Yeah…neither can I."

**Leon**: "How old are you?"

**Ruth**: "18. You?"

**Leon**: "21."

**Ruth**: "What? Heh, I thought you were a bit older. Or maybe I just was thinking that because you're taller than me."

**Leon**: "Too bad you weren't my age or I'd ask you to go get a drink after this is all over."

**Ruth**: "Is that your strange way of asking me on a date?"

**Leon**: "Well I'd rather it be me doing the asking than you. No offense, but following a lady's lead isn't exactly my style."

**Ruth**: "Being a damsel in distress isn't exactly my style either. Don't get me wrong though, I'd totally let you lead if it weren't for the fact that I know this facility more than you ever will trying to make it out on your own. Besides, if something happens, at least I'll get hit with it first so that it doesn't happen to yh-….wo…what the…."

And just as I had spoke, suddenly the metal plating underneath me gave way as I began to plummet to the darkness beneath me, but within seconds Leon had caught me. Unfortunately, the weight of my drop had yanked him so hard that he almost fell along with me. He had grabbed onto the ledge at the last second, hanging by one hand while holding my hand with his other. I could tell by the way he was hanging on that it wasn't a firm enough grip and he was going to drop us in a matter of seconds. My reflexes had instantly gripped back onto his hand, but when my mind became realistic I let go of his hand as he still clung on with his own grip.

**Leon**: "Kh! G-G-Grab on or you'll fall!"

**Ruth**: "Bullshit Leon! Your grip is weak and you'll drop us within seconds if you don't let me go!"

**Leon**: "I…I can't!"

**Ruth**: "Look I'll be alright." I retorted, biting my lip as I could see in my peripheral vision just pitch blackness. I had no idea what I would be dropped into. However, I could hear the sound of sloshing below my feet. It sounded like water, which could only mean that I was in the water tank of the facility. "I don't have time to explain everything to you, but I know where we are."

**Leon**: "What? Ah!"

I felt us nudge an inch as he desperately tried to lift me up, but couldn't without losing his entire grip. At this point I knew he was too stubborn to give up, so I only had one other option…

**Ruth**: "Listen to me. Once you get back up, that venting should lead you to the third floor of the facility. Eventually you will come to a code panel to give you access to the elevator. The code is 56931. Repeat that to me."

**Leon**: "I'm losing grip! Ruth please just climb up me!"

**Ruth**: "Damn it, repeat that code!"

**Leon**: "Kh! 56931!"

**Ruth**: "Good. Remember that code! It's your only chance of survival."


	3. Kevin Ryman

**Kevin Ryman**

I began to pull out my knife from my belt.

**Leon**: "Wait. What are you doing?"

I gave him a smile and then…

**Ruth**: "Goodbye Leon."

And with one quick slash, I cut the side of his arm as his body instantly reacted to the pain as he let go of his grip on me and I plummeted to the darkness below, fading into the pitch black void. I heard the echo of his scream as he called out my name, watching me fall feats below until he lost sight of me. Within a matter of seconds my mind flashed to fear of crashing to a horrible death. Luckily I was wrong. As I suspected, it was the water tank that I fell into as I was completely submerged quite a few feet. By the time I had swum upward to get a breath of air, I could tell that Leon had finally pulled himself back up into the vent. "Good". I thought to myself. As little light as the vents had emitting through them, it was a lot more light than what I had surrounding me. I watched him, knowing full well that he could not see me, but I could see him. He kept starring into the darkness that I was now engulfed in as he cried out again, hoping…maybe even praying that I would respond back. I wanted to respond back, but I didn't want to risk or underestimate his stubbornness to try to get me out alive, so I remained quiet until he finally left. I was floating above the water, but my stomach was sinking with tension. I might have survived the fall, but I had no idea how to get out of the tank or back up to the vent for that matter. It was too dark to see anything as well. Not only that, now I had the timing of a bomb that was going to hit the city at who knows what time hanging above my conscious. Even if I did get the nerve to keep my eyes open under water, there's no way I'd be able to see anything. I had no flashlight either. So I did the only thing I could do and that was to swim around, groping along the wall to see if I could feel a door of some kind, anything to give me a clue before I would attempt to swim under water. Thank god zombies couldn't swim. The tank was pretty damn huge considering it was used as the facility's main hydro powered energy source. It must have been at least 10 minutes by the time I had carefully groped half way along the tank until I felt something odd. My hand touched upon a surface that felt slightly different then the surface I was previously groping. Could it be? Was I touching………

**Ruth**: "…glass….wait…oh my god! It's glass!"

And it was then that I remembered that at the bottom of the tank was a glass wall that separated the water from the viewing room. The workers here would regulate the flow of the water to make sure nothing was wrong. However, to my dismay, a tank this large would require a rather _thick_ glass wall to keep it from cascading inward. I was so glad Leon had given me his gun earlier. It saved me from having to aimlessly jab at the glass with a knife. I took aim and the angle I thought was best and then fired as the bullet blazed through the water and into the glass. The sounds of cracks began to rumble through the water audibly loud. I knew then that the pressure from the water alone would break the wall in. I quickly put the gun away as I knew that if I was there when the pressure of the water would break through; it might break me along with the glass so I desperately swam to the opposite end of the tank, trying my best to see if there was anything to hang onto while the water would flow through. I figured there at least must be some type of metal ladder or steps to clasp onto considering that if anyone did get stuck inside the tank, they would have a way to stay above the water. Within minutes I had finally found something to grab. It wasn't a ladder, but it felt like a piping of some kind and it was then I heard a rumbling from underneath the water again. With one final crack from the glass, it made the whole place shake for an instant as the water began to empty into the viewing chamber below. I figured that despite the amount of water, the corridors it'd be pouring into would be plentiful enough to only make the water a couple of feet to walk in. At least I was hoping that would be the case. And any zombies that would be in the way would be easily swept to the side, giving me a chance to escape without too much trouble. It took a bit of time before the water had finally stopped flowing into the viewing room. My saving grace was the fact that for one, the viewing panel was only ye high and ye wide and was placed at least 5 feet above the actual bottom of the tank and the tank itself wasn't too heavily deep so any water that didn't make it through the panel, was sitting comfortably at the bottom of the tank, softening the landing of my feet. Considering the situation as a whole, this wasn't so bad. The water could have been ice cold, but I was grateful that it was lukewarm. Not like anyone was gonna drink it to begin with so no reason to keep it at a fresh temperature. When I felt that I had given the water enough time to settle, I carefully climbed down and walked over to the broken panel room, thankful that the red emergency lights were water proof, so they emitted nicely into the now watered down rooms that connected to the panel room. I cautiously climbed through the glass so as not to cut myself anywhere and managed into the room. The panels were blacked out as well as any electronics that got submerged momentarily. There was no specific doorway entrance to the room. It was a room in the middle of a hallway that went either left or right. I had only been in the room once before so I was at a loss as to which path way to take. I knew I had to get up, but constantly getting lost almost ticked the time down to the city getting leveled. I had to decide fast and just hope that I was picking the right way. Once I get out of the basement than I should be fine from there. I finally decided to go right. I ran down the hallway, ready to elbow or push anything that got in my way. I ran past multiple doors and panels that seemed to be all over the facility. It was yet another long straight shot hallway, illuminated by the red lighting. Finally I had gotten to the end of the hallway that had a map of the area. I was going the right way, but the path to a nearby elevator was completely caved in by the ceiling. So my only other option was the stairwell to the right of me. At least I had a second wind because there would be a lot of stair climbing. I slowly opened the door and was surprised to find that regular fluorescent lighting was on in the stairway. Maybe the lock down was only in specific areas? Who knew? It didn't matter though. At least I could see well. I began my climb towards the top, but it wasn't till halfway that I noticed something rather _odd_. I came upon the trail of some slime-like substance on the floor and it trailed upward along the walls of the stairwell and as my head slowly cocked upward it was then I noticed an abundance of what looked like slimy spider webbing. My gut sunk again and not only that, but the door to the first floor was completely covered in webbing. And it wasn't just one web; it was a _mass_ of webbing that looked at least 2 feet thick.

Knowing that time wasn't a luxury and if I was to make it out of the city before the bomb hits, I needed to get to the first floor. Ventilation was out and so was going through any other floor knowing full well that they were probably filled with zombies by now. So I took out my knife and began to dig into the webbing as slime covered my arms, making me gag simultaneously. "Well, at least this is webbing and not a sewage tank." The webbing was stronger than it looked, but I knew all too well what webs came from and I couldn't help but fantasize thoughts of zombie spiders. I mean if zombies were even possible, there's no reason whatever virus is going around, couldn't affect other creatures. I was getting restless with the time it was taking to even cut through to the doorknob, but I had finally managed to grab it and just as I did, what sounded like multiple clicks at once emitted off the walls around me and was soon followed by hissing. The door knob was hard to grasp well enough considering it was covered in slime and worse than that, it wasn't budging. The clicking sounds were coming closer as I frantically looked around, but saw nothing. The webbing it seemed was keeping the door shut like glue. Quickly taking my knife, it dug into the edges of the rim of the door, slicing along the gap between the door itself and the framing that held it and finally it had loosened enough for me to open it and as I did, the sounds of crackling seem to fill the air. Looking behind me, crawling up the stairs was a group of giant spiders. "SHIT!" I yelled as I rushed through the door and closed it shut. I might have blocked the path of the spiders in the stairwell, but that didn't stop the zombies that I was now to face coming my way on the other side of the door. At least I had made it to the second floor and I had a gun on me as I immediately took it out and began shooting them in the head as they did in the movies and ironically enough, it seemed to work. And just like in the movies, the zombies were slow and not too bright either. There was webbing all over the second floor it seemed and multiple zombies were stuck in the webbing. Managing to kill 6 zombies in my way, it cleared a path for me to run. Everything was covered in a mass of webs not to mention a mass of cubicles. It was a rather large room and the lights were flickering on and off. The elevator at one end of the room was covered in webs as well as most of the cubicles and zombies just kept coming. They were to the left of me and to the right, leaving me with no way out, but the one thing that was to my only advantage and that was the windows. I checked the clip of my gun and had only one bullet left. I had to reserve what I had and with no choice, I rushed towards the office room that was a clear shot in front of me, closed the door behind me, took out my knife, shattered the window, and proceeded to climb down the building low enough for me to jump to the ground. I did it. I made it out alive, but found the grounds to be ravaged with zombies in random areas around the facility. My only choice was to run around them and so I did, running as fast as I could back to the city that was drenched with Hell itself. Making it back, the condition of Raccoon City was three times as worse as when I had first left it. It was like walking into a nightmare. Raccoon was covered in darkness with but the flickering of street lights, broken buildings and glass, empty cars, echoing moans from zombies, and blood everywhere. One could even argue to say it was an act of god, but I knew it wasn't. It was an act of mankind…..mankind's _stupidity_. Whatever Umbrella had created, it was a mistake they would soon never forget and that _we_ would never forget. From so much running I was exhausted now and even though I knew I had to make it out as soon as possible, the remains of my energy were spent. I sped walked through an empty alley way and found a spot to sit down to get a breather. Although the echoing sounds of zombies could be heard here and there, there were no more cries, no more screaming. It was as if any existence of humans in this city were gone. And Leon….what happened to him? Was he okay? Did he make it to my mother and brother? These questions and thoughts raced through my mind as I couldn't focus off of them, and as good as it felt to sit down, I knew there probably wasn't much time left. My father's letter didn't inform me of when the city would be bombed, but my gut feeling told me it would probably be a morning hour of some kind; enough time to let the virus ravage the city to be bombed, but not too late as to let it get further than the city itself.

And just then something flickered with a reflection of light into my eyes. I looked over to find a body of a police officer on the ground and on the body's chest was a metallic star badge. It was a sheriff. I guess the virus hadn't taken over its body yet and the only thing a sheriff meant to me was _bullets_. If he was a police officer, he'd be more than likely to have a gun on him. I went up to the body and knelt down beside it. A gun was in his holster as well as an ammo belt that had multiple pouches to carry the bullets. I checked through those first and they seemed to be the same bullet size in my gun. I stuck the bullets in my pockets and began to reach for the gun, but suddenly just as I did, I felt the grasp of a hand on my wrist as the body began to move. It lifted its head as I saw red glowing eyes staring back at me."DAMN IT!" I cried out as I pulled away from its grasp and ran off. I'm sure the gun it had, had bullets in it, but I wasn't bound to risk going back to get more. I quickly looked around to see where I was. "Market street….that means….!!!....that means I'm on the same street mom and bro were left on when I left!" I couldn't tell you how long I was going down the street, considering it was one of the major ones that were in the middle of the city that connected to other streets, but I knew for a fact it followed all the way through the city itself and outside of it. It had probably been at least 20 blocks before I just couldn't move anymore. There had to be some form of transportation I could use to get out of here faster and safer so I began checking all the cars that were nearby to see if any of them had keys in them. None did. And the one I managed to find that had keys wouldn't start up. Try as I did the engine would rumble a little, but there was no movement, neither was I versed enough in cars to know how to hot wire one and then a few feet in front of me was a motorcycle. It sounded like an engine rumbling in the distance and it was then I knew that the motorcycle was still going. I quickly went up to it to find that the keys were still in the ignition. However there was only one major problem; _I didn't know how to ride a bike._ Of all the times I needed to know, and _now_ lady luck decided to ditch me. The only thing I knew is that the shifting of the gears was similar to that of an actual bicycle, but only slightly. Suddenly the cries of moaning seemed to be luring nearer to me as zombies began to slowly stagger over to me. "Mother fucker, you've got to be kidding me! Come on, COME ON!" Madly trying to get the thing going I kept fiddling with the mechanisms of the bike. It had no gas pedal so the only other thing I knew is that most motor bikes would move with the twisting of the right handle…….right? I twisted it slightly downward, knowing at least that the controls on a bike are more sensitive than on a car and as I did the suddenly jolted forward as I literally rammed into a group of zombies in front of me. They were crashed to the side as I kept going, yelling hysterically, but laughing at the same time as I had always wanted to ride a motorcycle and so it wasn't long before I had ended up right back at the restaurant where all the trouble started and I continued onward down the street, passing literally hundreds of zombies in my wake. Pulling downward a bit more on the handle had me going a bit faster than I probably wanted, but time could not be wasted at this point. I felt a bit at ease though, knowing that I would probably make it out of the city now, knowing the street within 3 miles would soon transition into the dirt road that lead out of the city limits. For that one moment I had set up an expectation, something I usually wouldn't do considering that life always had its nasty turns as it so sorely reminded me from the situation I was in, but what could stop me now from getting out the city? But it would seem that I would eat my own words. Market Street might have seemed a good idea at first, but with all the zombies around it wasn't long before I ended up facing a horde blocking my way, not to mention the amount of debris, crashed cars, and fire lit gasoline along the streets. It seemed the closer I came to the exit of the city, the more populated it was with zombies. It made sense however since this area of town was the most residential and business like. I could go no further, but now I had _another_ problem. Getting the bike was fairly decent to start, but I was even less inclined on how to stop it. There was a handle that was connected to the handle I was holding onto and it was metallic silver, kind of like the brake pads on a bike and there was also another pedal near my right foot, but I didn't know what it was for so I took my chances with the one what was an inch above my hand. However I was getting dangerously closer to the zombie horde in front of me and crashing through them was not an option.

I had to slow down so I gently squeezed on the metallic handle, simultaneously easing up on the other handle my hand was on as I began to slow down enough to let me turn down the left street that crossed Market. Fair enough, I would just simply go down Allison and take a right on Baker, but it ultimately didn't matter what street I took as long as I went in the direction of the exit of the city. Going down the street was more of an ease even though I could see zombies off in the distance. I hit Baker and just as I began to make my turn, something jumped out in front of me as I crashed into it, causing me as well as the bike to fly through the air. I crashed to the ground, skidding along it as areas of my skin got scrapped and cut, but the bike crashed into a building on the other side of the street, more or less putting it out of commission enough to where it couldn't be driven again. I slowly staggered to my feet, holding me arm as it felt bruised and almost broken. Luckily it was my left, seeing as how I was right handed so I could still easily shoot with my right hand, but as I got to my feet I finally laid eyes upon the _thing_ that jumped out in front of me. My heart seemed to stop as I realized what it was. It was a dog….an infected dog. "Oh god…" Zombies were slow movers, but animals didn't seem to be affected by the same movement. It began to growl at me as drool dripped from its teeth bound mouth. Its skin was discolored and some of it hanging by a thread, showing its bones in different areas and most of all it had that same haunting empty eyes. There were no pupils to be seem, just pure white eyes. And with a sudden dash it leaped at me, but I barely dodged it, bringing out my gun and firing a shot as it blazed through the dog's chest. It yelped, but it didn't stop it from coming at me again only this time it landed on top of me, knocking the gun out of my hand. It was trying to bite at my throat, but I simply grabbed its throat with both my hands. Its strength was abnormal to that of a regular dog I quickly learned, but my sore arm wasn't helping with that and it made it increasingly harder to get the dog off and all the commotion had gotten the attention of the zombies in the area as they began to come at me as well. "Fucking dog! Get the fuck OFF OF ME!" With one final push I knocked it off of me, got up and ran. I couldn't go straight for there were too many zombies and I couldn't get left or back behind me for that very same reason so all I could do was run down an alley way that was to the right of me and as I ran down it I knew I was doomed. Getting to the end of it left me with a dead end. There was nowhere to climb, no window to jump through. Typical, this was just _typical_. I wasn't bound to just give up yet however. I still had 13 bullets left as I began to fire head shots at each zombie that came down the alley, but the numbers weren't dwindling. They were doubling and kept coming my way and were closing in. I fired two more shots, but the second shot only fired a clicking sound. My stomach dropped once more as I cocked the gun a few more times, but no bullets came out. All that was left was my knife, but the zombies were _right_ on me. I got my dagger out and was about to slice the first zombie that came near me, but then I stopped. The first zombie was a female. Its features suddenly felt familiar to me. Despite its disfiguration, it had brown curly hair and slightly overweight and had glasses and the first thought that came to my mind was "……mom?!" It couldn't be. No…it just couldn't be! But it was. It was my mother and the zombie beside her to my absolute waking horror was my brother. The feeling I felt at that moment I could not describe, seeing that my loved ones who were so dear to me were now a walking dead mound of flesh. "Mom......MOM!....Please…don't….please….MOM!" I kept screaming. I was hysterical and tears were falling from my eyes. There was no escape, and no hope. I dropped the knife as I couldn't contain myself or the well being of my mind. Words just could not describe it. Another zombie came out from the side of them and grabbed onto me. I cried out as I tried to hold it back, but it managed to bite my arm as the pain seared up my shoulder. I fell to the ground with the zombie on top of me and just as it was going to bite down again its head exploded as blood splattered everywhere and the sound of an exploding blast rang out through the alleyway. Pushing the zombie away out of fear, its body toppled to the side. And then I heard two more audible clicking sounds in the air as another exploding blast echoed, and the group of zombies in front of me turned their attention the source of the sound.

_chie chie BOOOM!!!! chie chie BOOOM!!!! chie chie BOOOM!!!!_

The groups of zombies in front of me were quickly taken out except the remaining ones just in front of me and then I heard a voice yell out "come on!" I didn't have time to focus on whom or what was yelling at me, but I quickly got to my feet and ran towards the voice through the clear path that was before me. "Jesus I didn't think anyone was still alive. Are you okay?" I couldn't help but stand there in awe. It was a man, not Leon, but another man and he was in an R.P.D. uniform, was probably 6 feet tall, and had dark brown hair and a bit of facial hair to boot. "Damn! No time to load this thing. Come on let's move!" I instinctively just followed his command, rather baffled that a human being was still alive like me, but I was just as baffled at the fact that I was leaving my brother and mother behind. I stared down the alley once more before I took another step as I saw my mother and brother.

"_Mom…" _How…how could this have happened? Why…why was this happening….I…I couldn't focus as more tears filled my eyes. "Hey! What the hell are you doing?! Come on already!" I retorted back to the man "I can't! I can't leave them! They still need me! My mother and brother still need me!" The man gave me a funny look. "What?!" he replied incredulously. He peered down the alley as he looked upon my mother and brother. "You must be in shock because whatever they are, they aren't your mother and brother any longer." And it was then the man put his arms around me and threw me over his shoulder. "No, wait, STOP! Mom! MOOOOOOOOOOOOM!" The man kept running, dodging zombies left and right as he went down another alley way and through a door on the side of a building and shut the door tight behind him, putting me down on the ground. "Man, for a second I didn't think I'd be able to get you out of that." The man plopped on the ground, leaning against the door as he got out his artillery, checking it, and loading it with the last bullets he had. "Believe it or not, we're not the only ones alive. There are some other people I've run into along the way, but I recently lost track of them when we got cut off in east side of the city. So tell me, how'd you ge…" His talking was cut short as he finally took notice of me crying. I was kneeled down on my legs and my hands planted on the ground, hunched over in the shadowy darkness of the building. "Mom…dad…I-I can't do this…" The flow of tears became heavier as I could not contain the inner pain anymore. I cried out in sobs, not caring if zombies came my way or if dogs hounded me. I just wanted to die at this point. "Wo, hey! Those things are going to come this way if you don't keep it down." The man came up to me as be drew me in real close to him, burying my face in his chest as my sobs were muffled into his shirt, soaking it with my tears. "Look kiddo, I…I'm not too good at this sort of thing, and I know everything is crazy right now, but I'm sorry about your family." He placed gentle arms around me, a hand on my head and another on my back, holding me firmly against him as I felt his warmth. I didn't know who this man was, but his voice and sympathy was soothing nonetheless and my sobs died down to simple tears. "I can't make any guarantees, but I'll do my best to get you out of this city." My tears stopped as I slowly brought my head out from his chest and looked in him the eyes. It felt like as if it was Leon talking to me, yet another man in the line of duty still trying his best to save what lives he could. He chuckled a bit and smiled at me. "You know, I might be old enough to be your dad, but you're kind of cute." He stroked a few strands of hair from my face and wiped a few tears away as he let go of his embrace as he sat Indian style across from me. "First things first, I doubt you want me to call you kiddo so tell me, what's your name?" "R…Ruthanne." I replied. "Heh, Ruthanne huh? I knew somebody by that name, but she refused to go on a second date with me, ha, ha." The man stood up as he grabbed his shot gun and rested it over his shoulder, stretching his other hand out to me. "The name's Kevin Ryman, nice to meet you." He smiled again as I couldn't help but smile back, grabbing his hand as me helped me up. "Alright, good thing is, we're extremely close to exiting the city. Bad thing is getting through the hordes of those zombies or whatever you want to call them. Here…" The man took out his hand gun and handed it to me. "You look like you can manage yourself if you survived this far and I might need some backup so go ahead and keep that. I only have 2 clips left so try to reserve what ammo you can and only shoot if necessary." I looked at the gun as he handed it to me, instantly reminding me of Leon.

**Ruth**: "Hey, do you know a man named Leon Kennedy?"

**Kevin**: "Huh? Leon?"

**Ruth**: "He wears the same uniform as you do and he helped me get through the power plant back at the other end of the city…"

**Kevin**: "Wait, you mea n that rookie cop? Yeah I know him. Not personally, but god what a way to join the force having your first day trying to survive something like this. He must be pissing his pants by now."

**Ruth**: "I'm being serious! Have you seen him? Please tell me if you have!"

**Kevin**: "No. I'm afraid to say I haven't, but it at least explains how you made it this far on your own. Why does it matter? Do you know him personally?"


	4. Escape

**Escape**

**Ruth**: "No, but…"

I just lowered my head. I wasn't even sure what to say anymore. "I see. He helped you, and so you want to know if he made it out alive. Well I can understand the sentiment, but sorry Ruthanne, I don't know what to tell you. And quite frankly, it doesn't matter at this point. I…" Suddenly the door we had gone through was being banged upon as the cries of zombies could be heard from the other side. "…it's time to go, come on." I followed as we raced through the small building. It seemed to be a convenience store of some kind as we made it out through the front of it and onto yet another street that was filled with zombies. We were surrounded once again. "Damn! Don't these things ever stop coming?!" He aimed his gun and began firing rounds off as a path was slowly being cleared. "This way!" We probably ran for about a block before I was becoming way too exhausted. The entire ordeal was tiring and I was beginning to feel dizzy as I stopped and fell to my knees, holding my head. "Hey, what's wrong?" Kevin yelled as he ran up towards me and knelt down on one knee, placing a hand on my shoulder. "We've made it this far, we're almost out of the city." "I-I can't. My head….I…I just want to sleep." Kevin sighed heavily as he picked me up once more and threw me over his shoulder. "Lucky for me, you're a light weight. I'll get you out of this city even if it kills me." His words pierced through my mind as I just couldn't believe yet another stranger would just risk his life to save me, even if it meant ending his, even if he _was_ a police officer, but something was wrong. My head felt heavy as I just kind of hung over his back as he ran along the street. All I could see was the passing of the ground as it blurred into just pure grey, my vision tunneling. "Put me…p-put me down please!" Kevin placed me upon the ground as he frantically kept looking around.

**Kevin**: "Look, I don't know what's wrong with you, but we can't just keep stopping."

**Ruth**: "I-I don't know what's wrong! Just…just leave me here! I'll just slow you down. You've got to get out before the city gets bombed!"

**Kevin**: "W-What?! What do you mean the city's getting bombed?!"

**Ruth**: "T-There's no time to explain everything. Listen, the reason all this is happening because of a viral outbreak that got leaked from Umbrella."

**Kevin**: "Umbrella? The pharmaceutical company?"

**Ruth**: "They….ah! God….this hurts…they…they were conducting research into bio-organic weapons and created some type of infection or virus that got leaked somehow and spread through the city, turning these people into walking dead. And because of this the city has been ordered to be bombed."

**Kevin**: "You're kidding me! No way!

**Ruth**: "Look…the light of day is already hitting the horizon. They could bomb it any minute for all I know!"

**Kevin**: "Leaving you to the dogs is not an option. Are you able to stand?"

**Ruth**: "I-I guess. Maybe I….LOOK OUT!"

I threw my arms around Kevin as I pulled him to the side onto the ground as an infected dog leaped past him. I took out my gun and aimed, but the dizziness in my head kept me from getting a head shot as the bullet merely hit the dog's leg, blowing its paw off. It wasn't a head shot, but it was sufficient enough to stop the dog from attacking any time soon. Kevin got me to my feet, swinging my arm around his neck as he helped me run down the street. He kept us going, not stopping even for a second, but I could tell all the running about was starting to take a toll on him as well. He took a sharp turn as he lead us down another alley seeing as the main street was blocked by endless zombies. The alley was blocked by a gate, but there were zombies on the other side. We turned to go back the way we came, but the other end of the alley was accompanied by more dogs as they stood and growled at us. "No, no, no! There's got to be another way!" Kevin frantically looked around not seeing anywhere that we could go, just like the alley I was in before; _a dead end_. And the one ladder that was connected to a stairway on the side of the building was too high to reach. We were trapped, but just as all hope was lost, what seemed to sound like a whistle pierced through the air above us. "Hey, up here you two!" "Alyssa, is that you?" Kevin seemed rather happy to see the woman. "Yeah, and in good timing I see. Grab on!" The woman let down the ladder far enough for us to reach it as Kevin quickly helped me up the ladder and he soon followed. Zombies and infected dogs soon crowded around the ladder. Once we made it to the top Kevin with some swift kicking of his boots, knocked the ladder off its hinges to keep the zombies from climbing up. "It won't be long before those things fill up this building so we got to move. Where are the others?" "They've already made it out of the city. I was still in the area where we got split up so I looked around for you. Glad I did." The woman replied. "Yeah me too and look what I found." The woman looked at me quizzically. "She's so young…" I was getting rather irritated about the age references. "No time for introductions. We need to go." I retorted back. They nodded as the woman led us through the building. "I'm not sure what happened to this building, but it looks like someone had set off a bomb in it so there are numerous floors that are ready to break through so watch your step." "But you've already been through it so there shouldn't be any problem right?" Kevin asked. "No, I didn't have too much trouble." "Well that's comforting." I said sarcastically. Many floor boards were loose and most offices caved in and windows completely blown out. You'd think there was a war zone in this building, but I couldn't help but shake the feeling that maybe something was here that someone didn't want anyone else to find so they blew out the building for the most part. We were coming along some very flimsy floor boards now and they seemed nonstop as we carefully groped along the wall, passing multiple cubicles. "Are we there yet?" Kevin asked in playful banter. "Yeah, the entrance door should be just up ahead." "Wo, wo stop…"I urged. "Hey, what did I say about stopping?" Kevin replied. "Didn't you feel that?" I retorted. "Felt what?" He retorted back. It was then the entire building felt like it had shook as the floor beneath us rumbled and then….

…_CRASH…_

The floor beneath us gave way as I plummeted to the bottom, just like in the power plant, only this time there was no water to break my fall. Kevin was hanging off the ledge, Alyssa helping him up as I hit flat on my back the floor that was underneath the one we were on and the impact in turn caused that spot in the floor as well to cave in as I finally landed into the basement of the building it seemed. I could only feel but numb pain as I laid there, Kevin's voice calling out to me from above. "Ruthanne….Ruthanne! Damn it, I got to get down there." Alyssa pulled him back on the arm. "Are you crazy? You're going to get yourself and the girl killed trying to get down there." "So you just expect me to leave her? Is that it?!" In the midst of their arguing I slowly sat myself up and checked for broken bones. There were none. In fact, strangely enough, I felt perfectly fine as if I hadn't fallen at all. I looked straight above me as I saw Kevin and Alyssa two floors above me through the holes I had crashed through. At that point I knew it was pointless for them to even try to get to me, but not all hope was lost, not just yet. I slowly stood back up and yelled at Kevin. "Listen to me! I'm going to be fine. I'm not hurt and there's a window here that's small enough for me to crawl through. Just go with Alyssa and run for it. I'll be fine! The exit to the city is only a block away!" Kevin looked back down on me as I could tell by the look in his eyes that he didn't want to leave me behind, never truly knowing if I would actually make it out. And actually, I was partially lying. It wasn't just one block away, it was 3 and considering the situation, something could easily keep me from making it, but I wasn't bound to let him risk his life let alone Alyssa's to try to get to me. So I lied to assure him I'd be fine. "But…" "…just go! I'll be _fine_!" He sighed a moment and then "…alright. No time for long winded goodbyes so damn it, you better make it out of this city alive!" "Don't worry I will." I replied with reassurance. "Oh and Kevin…" He turned back around before taking another step away. "…thanks. Thanks for everything." He smiled back. "No problem. Let's go Alyssa. The others are waiting." And off they went, leaving me alone once again. I quickly went up to the window and broke it open with my knife. Upon crawling out I found myself on Taskin Street and for the most part it was clear enough to run through and at the end of it I could see the end of the city, my ticket to salvation. And with a straight shot and 3 blocks later, I made it out. I had made it out of the city. I had made it to a forestry area that seemed well enough away from the city to keep me from being obliterated by the bombs. I sat on the ground and just waited for the dawn. The sky was fairly lit up now, with orange and red colors of the sunrise and off in the distance I suddenly heard the sound of thumping beats in the air. "A helicopter? You've got to be kidding me. Someone is still alive from the city?" I got up to gaze at it and as it came closer I noticed it was carrying a rather large metal container that was connected to a chain that led up to the helicopter itself. "What the hell is that thing carrying?" I had a bad feeling about it and as my eyes focused on it nearing my area over head I noticed a rather odd figure shape on top of the container. "Wait…isn't that a…a woman?!" I couldn't believe it. There appeared to be a woman with black hair and a red outfit sitting atop the container. "What the hell is going on here?!" The helicopter was white and didn't appear to have any logo on it, but my gut reaction told me that it wasn't something good, but my attention was quickly turned to the sounds of a whizzing whistle in the air and there, completely airborne and headed for the city were missiles. It was the bombs set to cover up the entire city in ash. Within seconds the entire city of Raccoon…………_was decimated_. The heavy winds from the explosion hit the area I was in as I kept watch behind the protection of a thick cedar tree, watching the home where I was born and grew up, the home where my friends and most of all my family lived, was completely destroyed within an instant and for what? Was the outbreak really just an accident? My entire life and everything I had come to know was now rinsed from existence and nothing left but rubble and soot. I don't know how long I was sitting there watching, but I waited until it was clear enough for me to walk back, to walk back to the city of death. What choice did I have? I didn't know where else to go and the only other major city within reach was 30 miles away and I had no means of transportation. But at this point I didn't care. It didn't matter anymore…..

Walking through what used to be a city, was now nothing more than an empty graveyard. It was the only place I really knew to go back to. It was my home, my past, my _origin_. Although all the streets were pretty much gone, I instinctively knew how far and where my home resided. Walking upon the ground was like literally walking on egg shells as beneath my feet cracked glass, wood, gravel and rubble. Never in my life had I seen such destruction and it had my mind at a haze. I began to cry once more, knowing what I had lost and how alone I truly felt. I was the only one, the only sole survivor left still walking about now. No zombies, no dogs, and no creatures to eat at me…eat at me…eat… "…wait a minute…eat…" a memory had triggered in my mind. My arm! Oh my god. How could I have forgotten?! I ripped off my sleeve just to make sure I wasn't delusional and there on my skin was a bite mark. I guess out of frenzy I was experiencing and Kevin suddenly coming to save me, everything had caused me to forget I had been bitten. Now there was truly no hope. I was the last remaining survivor there and now I was the last remaining zombie. It would only be a matter of time before I would become an undead creature. I fell to my knees in utter bafflement. No words…no words could describe what I was thinking or even feeling. All I knew is that my hand was physically taking out the gun Kevin had given me, and pointing at my temple. It felt as if someone else was controlling me. I was in a true blank state of mind. And then…

…_click…………………click click…_

…and then there was nothing. There were no more bullets as I had already used the remainder of them helping Kevin, but it didn't matter. I'm sure someone would come along from the government, find me, and have me destroyed. And so I slumped over on my side and laid there, closed my eyes, and let the world pass me.

…_Hours later…_

Light, bright light hit my eyelids as I saw the luminosity in my sight. I slowly opened my eyes to find blaring lights covering my entire body. It was windy around me as helicopters circled above me. "Hey, the girl's alive! Hey get the researchers over here immediately!" "Roger!" I heard voices all around as I slowly sat up, but quickly had a gun pointed in my face. "Don't move or make any sudden movements!" I was startled as men in armored outfits and men in biohazard suits surrounded me. It seemed to be night time outside. Had I slept for so long? "Does the girl have any identification on her?" "No, not from what I can see. Her clothes are tattered and blood is on her, but she doesn't appear to be infected." "Wait a minute…" A biohazard suited man was kneeled down next to me as he was accompanied by another that came up and gently grabbed my arm. I winced slightly, but it was then I noticed that the blood from the bite mark was gone, but the mark was still there. "Look at this; it looks like a bite mark." "Are you sure? There's no blood." "I'm sure. The rigid nature of the pattern of the mark is curved like a human's bite." I looked at the men skeptically. Who the hell were they? Government agents? "She doesn't appear to be exhibiting any symptoms from the virus." "But that doesn't explain why she's the only survivor here let alone the fact of how she survived the bombing." "We better get her back to headquarters to run some tests just in case." I didn't notice it at first, but my eye caught sight of the logos on the men's uniforms. It was a red and white pattern. It was Umbrella! The men began to grab at me to pick me up and I struggled against them. "No! Leave me alone!" The armored men around me simultaneously held up their guns as the men in the biohazard suits held me down, one of them taking out a syringe filled with some type of liquid as he stuck it into my lower back and within moments I was knocked unconscious. Seconds had passed by, minutes, maybe even hours. Who knew? All I did know was that the next time I would wake up; it wasn't in Raccoon City anymore. I found myself on some type of gurney in some type of lab like room. My vision was blurry at first, but it didn't take long to clear. I was stripped down to a mere white gown like the ones found in hospitals and I found my ankles and wrists bound down like they do at insane asylums for patients that are too much to control. I began to tremble. I was almost frantic for fear of what they were going to do to me. I was surrounded by lab researches and armored men that stood by the doorway and computers and test tubes of unknown liquid stacked nicely together in trays accompanied by microscopes for viewing. So this was it, this was truly the inner ground workings of Umbrella Corporation and I guessed that I wasn't the only one that has been here before like this. The thoughts of being a guinea pig were unbearable as I struggled against the leather straps that held me down. I felt almost wild, like an animal as I grunted out cries of anger, feeling something sweltering inside me. Slightly above me looked liked what appeared to be a glass viewing room as it seemed what could be the "higher-ops" were watching the progress of what was going on with me. Thinking about the researchers brought me back to the research I had found a year ago and the picture I found on my father's database that showed some of the top researchers of Umbrella. The first thought that came to mind was the man named Albert Wesker. I looked about me in the room for a man with black sunglasses and blonde hair, and such a man was nowhere in sight. I barked at one of the lab workers that were standing by me, holding a wooden pad and pencil as he seemed to be writing things down. "Hey! You! That's right, you. I demand to see the man named Albert Wesker."

Suddenly the lab workers around me stopped what they were doing as they turned around and stared at me. "You are hardly in a position to give demands, and yet I find it most intriguing that you even know that name." "Like I give a damn what you think! I want to see him NOW!" The man shot me a glare as I assumed he was not accustomed to a young girl giving him orders. "I suggest you watch your mouth little girl. You are property of Umbrella now. You are nothing more than test subject #307 and an intriguing one at that." "And why is that? Why am _I_ so intriguing?" "That concern is only ours." "The only concern you should have is me killing you!" Although I've been known to show signs of anger every once in a while and it was but a natural human reaction, I couldn't help but feel that the words I was saying was _unnatural_. I've never threatened to kill anyone in my life and considering that I was in no position, as the doctor said, to give demands, I did so defiantly anyway. And yet I did not know why. I felt myself pulling on the straps as the stretching and rubbing of leather could be audibly heard. "Test subject #307. Unless you want to feel more pain than I will be distributing to you shortly, I suggest you keep your mouth shut." "Pain?" The word pierced through me. "That's right. The experimentations on our rats show them exhibiting high frequency in reaction timing of nociceptors. In other words they experience a vast amount of pain. However since using anesthetics only slows the process and my……_employer_ is just as impatient, I see no reason to ease any pain you _will_ be experiencing." No…my worst fears were coming true; to be experimented on, held against my will, _tortured_. I couldn't handle even the thought of it and then something in me snapped. I don't know how, but in the midst of my crying out, I had broken myself free from the straps that held me down and then I broke into frenzy. I was hysterical with rage and panic and in that moment everything seemed in slow motion. The armored men standing by the entrance door began to fire bullets and yet the bullets just seemed to float past me as I easily dodged them without struggle of any kind. Within seconds I had reached the armored men, picked them up and threw them across the room as they crashed into the computers. The lab workers were just as panicked as they began to cry out and yet….why….why was everything so slow and I was the only one moving so fast? What the hell was going on? Seeing as there was nowhere to go I dashed to the entrance of the room and tried to open it, but it would not open. So I began to slam my arms upon it as enormous dents were being thrust into the metal of the doors. I wanted out. I wanted out so badly and I couldn't control myself. What was happening to me? How did I have the strength to do all this? Before I could thrust one more slam onto the door, the panels of the thick metal door opened and there stood a man, a man in a lab coat with blonde hair and black sunglasses. It was him….it was the man I sought. I froze as he kept his sight on me, his arms folded behind his back and his stature calm and receded. Although I could not see his eyes, I could feel his gaze strike through my soul. And then he spoke…

"_That will be quite enough out of you."_

He took a few steps towards me as the heavy metal door panels behind him slammed shut. My trembling became more rapid and my heart beat paced quicker as with every step he took towards me was another step I took behind me. "I was given word that you were looking for me, but it comes as a surprise to me that you even know my name." I stammered in response, "A-A…Albert….W-Wesker?" His stature did not change in the least as he replied back, "Correct." He stopped taking steps toward me, but I couldn't help but feel quite timid in his presence. Something about him was entirely different than anyone here in the lab I had briefly met, but at the same time I felt my frenzy calm down by the sound of his voice; maybe because he was so calm or maybe because he didn't dare touch me…at least not yet, but it helped to know he wasn't trying to inject me with anything or strap me back down as I'm sure it helped him to stay calm knowing that I wasn't trying to attack him like I did the others. The silent air was quickly broke however when he let out a rather irritated exhale. "You've made quite a mess of things with those computers you just destroyed." Before he said another word, he slowly removed his glasses and stuck them in his pocket and for the first time he struck me with his gaze. His eyes…I couldn't' stop staring into them. They were almost cat like with thin slits for pupils surrounded by red and yellowish coloring. It was like looking into the devil himself. I felt my knees slightly shaking. "I thought a girl of your age would have better manners than what you just displayed. I guess your parents didn't raise very adequately." I snapped at his statement, "Don't speak to me about my parents after what you and those other disgusting people just done to Raccoon City!" I wanted to say more, but I bit my tongue. I got the feeling that this man was the wrong man to piss off. "Really? And yet somehow you survived the bombing. State your explanation." He glared at me, not taking a liking to my tone so I toned it down a bit. I wish he'd stop staring at me. "I didn't survive the bombing. I made it out of the city with the help of two other men, but after the city was bombed I went back." "Why?" I hesitated in response. I wasn't sure how to explain it to him or to give a rational explanation of it. "I…it was the only place I knew to go back to." "I see. Well my dear girl I hate to cut this sweet chat short, but time is not a luxury right now and there is much I seek from you. Do you know why you are here?" I just shook my head innocently. I truly had no idea. "Must I spell it out for you?" Sighing heavily, "Very well then. Since you can't seem to comprehend the situation at hand I'll give you a hint. Think back to when you were still in the city before it was bombed. How long ago were you bitten?" His question struck me heavily. I knew getting bitten would zombify an individual, but come to think of it, it had been hours since I was bit. If I were to transform to the undead, I would have done it a long time ago. From my shear facial expressions, he could see the answer in my eyes. "Now do you understand?" "I realize that it's unusual that I haven't turned into a zombie but…wait…is my body…this abnormal strength…no it couldn't be! How is that possible?!" "I'll presume you understand why you're here now? To make it clearer for you so there is no misunderstanding, 1 out of every 10,000 people are able to accept the T-Virus. You are one of those people." "T-Virus? So it's true. The company is researching into bio-organic weapons. It'll be sold to terrorists and the bombing of the city wasn't just to get rid of the zombies…the company paid the government to keep quiet and cover up the incident!" As I spoke, I became more angered at the situation than anything else. But was I surprised? Was I really surprised? "Excellent deduction #307." "My name is Ruthanne!" I snapped in replied. "Ruthanne…test subject #307…it does not matter. You are property of Umbrella now and that is how it shall always remain." Within seconds a group of armored troupes had entered in the room as they kept their guns pointed at me. "No….I REFUSE!" The men reacted to my response, but Wesker held up his hand as the men lowered their guns, his expression the same as it was when he first entered the room. "My dear girl, do you not understand that there is no escape." I stared him dead in the eyes, my fear now gone. "Really? I beg to differ." With lightning speed, I picked up one of the semi-machine guns that were dropped by one of the soldiers I had taken down earlier. It was near my feet the entire time and I was prepared for such a moment as this. I held the tip of the barrel of the gun to the bottom of the corner of my throat. I was prepared to die. Wesker frowned in disagreement as he slowly lowered his arm and began to crack his knuckles, the tight squeezing leather of his gloves could audibly be heard as he took steps towards me.

"My dear girl, it seems you still do not understand the position you are in." "If you don't think I'll do it you're sadly mistaken!" He stopped in his tracks as I cocked the gun. "Umbrella…you….everyone here…you took everything. YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME!" The armored men were ready to aim and fire. "I have nothing left to lose so if you think for one second I won't kill myself I w…" My words were cut short as Wesker at one moment was in front of me and then a second later he was face to face with me. I almost pulled the trigger, but he quickly took the aim of the gun and dug it into his chest. "What makes you think you can actually die now?" I gasped, understanding only a hint of what he might have been getting at, but I just didn't get it. What did he mean? "If you're so confident you can escape then shoot me."


	5. Master

**Master**

"W-What?!" I stammered. "I will not repeat myself a second time." He replied coldly. I couldn't believe what he was asking me. I maybe have gone into frenzy a moment ago, but I had no intention of truly killing anyone. I caught movement of his hand as I shook from trepidation. He took his glasses back out and stuck them on. "Tell me, what do you see?" I looked into his eyes as I saw the reflection in them and there I saw my own eyes and gasped. My eyes…they were….they were…"I have your eyes?! But that means…" "…that's right, _I_ am one of those exceptional people. Now...fire your weapon!" Tears welled up in my eyes. I couldn't do it. "Sir, I may have lost everything, but I don't want to hurt you. Please, don't make me." I could no longer see his eyes, but I could tell from the arch of his eyebrows that he was no longer angry, but then he smirked and began to chuckle. "Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh. My dear girl, you may not covet to hurt me, but the fact of the matter is………_you can't_." In the blink of an eye he ripped the gun from me and tossed it to the side and within seconds he had me slammed up against the wall behind me, one hand grasped upon my neck, choking me, his other hand reaching inside of his lab coat and pulling out a hand gun. "It seems I will have to educate you the hard way as to why there truly is no escape for you here, not even death." He pressed the tip of the gun into my stomach and cocked the gun. "Wait! What are you doing?!" "I suppose I should thank you for not firing back at me, but you will momentarily feel a gratuitous amount of pain. Brace yourself."

…_BANG!!!…_

The shot was excruciating. All my mind could comprehend was pain. Wesker's grip on my throat was a bit more loosened as I spat up blood, but I simply could not stop screaming. I gripped tightly onto the arm he held against me as I was immobilized from the pain. My weight dropped and he let me go as I fell to the floor, literally lying at his feet as blood escaped me. My body went into shock however and the pain I felt died off rather quickly as my screams stopped and I was left in a hazy pool of blood. "Leave us." Wesker demanded as the armored troops in the room left. He simply placed his gun back and kept his hands in his pockets as he kept watch on me. Was he waiting for me to die? No…no, no why would he wait for me to die? Something was out of place here, but in the moment of wondering what the hell was really going on, the pain had truly dissipated and the blood stop coming out, my breathing became calmer. I tilted my head upward slightly as my face was at the toe of Wesker's shoe. I slowly placed my hand on his shoe, trembling all over my body. At this point researchers began to enter back into the room as some of them were trying to clean up the mess I had made and brought in another gurney, only this time, the straps on it were made of metal. "I don't understand…am…a-am I healing?" "You clearly underestimate the capabilities of the virus in your body. And you clearly lack the comprehension of what you are." "What I am?" "You are already dead." Gasping, looking up directly at him as he looked down upon me like I was some weak vermin, I simply replied in disbelief, "…d-dead?!" "For the price of your humanity you have not only received rapid healing abilities and inhuman strength, you have received constant regeneration. You cannot simply _die_ as you so desperately wish." "You mean I'm immortal?" "Perhaps, but that will do for now. I tire of wasting my time with you. Now get up." I immediately reacted to his command as I realized how easy it was to move now. The blood I had lost was covered all over me, but it felt as if I had lost nothing, as if nothing had been torn through my stomach. I peeked under my robe and saw no scar on my stomach of any kind. The words Wesker had spoken were all too true. I was a living dead immortal. "Sir, another room has been prepared for her." "Good. Clean her up and burn her clothes. They are no longer needed." He began to walk away. "Hey! Wait a second!" He stopped, but didn't turn to face. He merely turned his head ever so slightly to the sound of my voice. "I may not understand the T-Virus like you do, but I understand enough to know that it'll take a lot more to keep me here than you're letting on. These powers…you may also have them, but you're the only other one aren't you?" I waited for him to answer but he did not. "That's what I thought. Send as many scientists and as many armed men as you like, but you know as well as I do that I could easily kill these men, could take the bullets fired at me, and rip them apart. In fact I might even pose a threat to you." It was then he turned around and faced me. I'm sure he wasn't pleased, but instead of being threatened or intimidated he just simply smirked and laughed. "Foolish girl. I must say you are more perceptive than you look, but you must understand something. Once you are of no further use than you will simply be killed." "B-But….but you said that I…" "…I know what I said. I said _perhaps_. You may like to think you're immortal, but I've been at this far longer than you have. There are ways of killing you…ways that are slow and _painful_. In fact, that is your greatest downfall. You respond to pain very easily. That gunshot was a simple flesh wound and you cried like an infant." I had to admit, he had a way of hitting a nerve with me, but he was also perceptive enough to see right through me. From a simple moment of action he was able to see or even sense my greatest fear…………_pain_. "The choice is yours, but you have wasted enough time. So what will it be?" A moment of silence fell upon the room. I savored what I could from it because from that moment on, I knew I would no longer have peace. "Speak girl, or shall I make you?" "I-I…." sighing heavily and collecting my composure I answered back, "I will cooperate under one condition…" "…you are in no position for demands, girl." "On the contrary, I believe I am." I could tell he was getting aggravated. "Don't worry, the request is so simple, you could piss it away in a toilet." "Fine. State your _condition_._" _"If I am to become a guinea pig, I demand that all experimentations on me be done by you and you alone." He was going to speak, but he hesitated for a moment as my statement left a weight in the air. Had I struck a chord with him?

"Curious…..as much as I could care less to your sentimentality, the thought as to why you are solely requesting me festers in my mind. Tell me why and maybe I'll _think_ about fulfilling your request." In full honestly I didn't think our conversation would lead to this, but once again he has surprised me. And so I, almost in delight, I replied, "My father worked for the power plant that gave electricity to not only the entire city, but Umbrella as well. Out of curiosity I did some digging into the databases of the plant's computers and found information on the Umbrella Corporation. Not only did it talk about its founder, Ozwell E. Spencer, but it talked about its leading researchers. It had a picture of all those researchers and in the image was the first time I saw you. Out of all the researchers in the image you stuck out the most considering you were the only one wearing sunglasses. And I couldn't help but be intrigued. I cannot explain to you in logical rationale as to why I desire you to do the experimentations, but the best way I can explain it is to call it a gut reaction. That's how I knew about you. That's how I knew your name." Silence once again. "Hm, hm, hm, an interesting story if nothing else, but we'll see. I hardly have the time to educate you let alone babysit you, but for now just do yourself a favor and obey every command you are given. I will not tolerate delays." And in polite manner I replied, "Yes sir." "Good." He smirked and then walked off. Days, days had gone by. Approximately two months to be exact. And getting to know Wesker wasn't too impossible, but it was enough time to figure out that Wesker wasn't truly working for Umbrella; he was working for _himself_. He was only using the company not only for personal research into the viruses of the T and G, but now there was a new virus called the Veronica Virus at least that's what I could gather. He was going to take a trip to an island called Rockfort, but that was all I knew. I wasn't sure if he was ordered by Umbrella to go or if he was just going with his own agenda. I betted more with the idea he was going because of his own plans. Being around Wesker had rubbed off on me in several ways and my perspective on the world and life itself was quickly distorting and deteriorating into something I wasn't proud of, but I was apathetic at best. I just didn't care anymore. All I had ever cared about died months ago and all that was left now was myself and Wesker. In the small amount of time I had been here, he has not only done his own experimentations on me as I asked, of course under the watchful eye of Umbrella, but he's also from time to time trained me in combatants and artillery. Dare I say it brought me closer to him? He was a behind the scenes type of stagnant man and extremely exhibited signs of being a true alpha-male and quite dominant. It was features I couldn't help but be allured by and he was the only man I've ever for the first time been enamored by, but I wanted to be more than just his test subject. I was determined to prove to him I could be so much more and so I waited about a month before I got the courage to speak to him just before he planned on leaving for Rockfort Island. He was in his room quarters as I stood at the door, hesitating to knock. Suddenly I heard his voice called out, "You may enter." My heart jumped slightly. I forgot how perceptive he was, maybe even intuitive? There was no way he could have known I was standing there at that moment. He ceases to amaze me. The door was automated and so it opened upon me tripping its sensor as I entered into his room as the door closed behind me. I walked over to the couch that was near the dresser he was grabbing some things from as he loaded his weapons and checked them to make sure they were properly working. I didn't want to be in his way so I sat down. "As you can see I have no time for dodeling about so make it quick." He didn't seem in the mood for really anything considering he obviously had his mind set on _other_ things. "I won't waste your time so I'll be blunt. I…I want to go with you." He didn't seem to hesitate with his answer. "No, you will remain here." "But…" "…I will not say no again. Now leave." From getting to know Wesker, it only made me more intimidated by him knowing full well that his power was much more refined than mine and his movements not even I could keep up with, but for the first time since I first met him, I was defiant on my stance. I simply would not take no for an answer this time. I stood up so as not to be so intimidated by him standing _above_ me. He was still moving about, preparing his things. "I know you're not going under the orders of Umbrella." He was in the middle of loading a gun when I had made my statement. I quickly regretted doing so as he shifted the gun about, clicking the clip into place and it seemed as if he was going to shoot at me, but he simply turned to face me and place the gun in his holster.

"As I said, I hate wasting your time so I'll make this quick, but I know you have your own agenda, that you don't really work for Umbrella, that you're just using them as pawn. As to what your agenda really is, is unknown to me. But I wouldn't be asking to go with you if I didn't have _my_ own agenda. You're not the type of man that can be pigeon held for very long and neither am I. You've experimented on me personally as I asked and you've even trained me from time to time. I don't want to follow Umbrella, I want to follow _you_." An awkward silence fell upon the air, but either my words were falling on deaf ears, or he was actually listening to what I had to say. I didn't hesitate to continue as this was a rare moment I could have with him so I took advantage of it. "Whatever it is you want to accomplish, it doesn't matter to me. If you want to destroy the world I could care less anymore. I will not stand in your way of anything. I can give you my life on that, but if there's one thing I know that you would hate just as much as I, is if my talents, my body gets wasted on nothing. Because you have trained me and because you do experimentations on me and the very fact you even keep me alive shows me that I'm still of use to you, but I could be so much more if you let me." I let one more pause of silence fall into the air to make sure I still had his attention. He simply exhaled and folded his arms. I continued. "Look, in the line of work you do, especially if it's personal work, it's all the more reason you don't trust anyone and I don't blame you, but I want to prove myself to you. And the only way to do that is if I do anything you ask of me. I want to be the first person you can truly trust. I.." He cut me off, "…is that _all_?" speaking in irritation as he closed his suitcase and snapped it shut. I simply sighed, not wanting to anger him and said, "…yes, that's all." "You will not speak of this again with me, now leave my room." Something was off. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but something in his words, body language, and even the cocking of his eyebrows told me that there was something he was not letting on to me and I was determined to get it out of him. So with one last plead at him before he left the door I simply stated, "Master please! I want to be utilized; I want to be your tool!" Success! He stopped yet again as it caught his attention. I just hope I wouldn't' regret it. He turned to face me again. "What did you call me?" His tone of voice caught me off guard. It sent a shudder down my back as I couldn't tell if he was saying it with distaste or with utter disgust that I said it was all and yet I kept going. "Master?" Apparently the word struck a chord with him as apparently it also struck a chord with me. I had never called him that before aside from Wesker or Sir, but it just sort of naturally popped out. He put his suitcase down, sighing, but yet again I wasn't able to figure out if his sigh was out of irritation or out of something else. He began to take steps towards me as I naturally backed away, but I had forgotten that the couch was behind me as I lost balance and fell right into it. He stood dauntingly above me as he folded his arms once more and just stared at me through his sunglasses. However the light from the lamp in his room hit his glasses in just the right angle for me to see his eyes partially through the lens. It made it even more intimidating as I began to tremble a bit. "Master….heh…" Alas! A smirk! That was a good thing. "…out of the subordinates I have had worked under me, no one has ever humbled or debased them self enough to call me that. I must say you cease to surprise me." He then reached out his hand and naturally I jerked my head a bit as I thought he was going to slap me, but instead he placed his hand atop my head and rested it there. "I think I could get used to being called master, but I have yet to understand as to why you would devote yourself so charismatically to my whim. I could kill you right now if I wanted." His statement weighed the air. "I would rather die by your hands than die by anything else." I said confidently. "Heh, your fatalism is intriguing, but that is not what I find you unsettling. What is it that you really seek?" He asked as he removed his hand from my head, sticking them in his pockets. I looked up at him innocently enough. I understood his question, but I didn't really know how to answer let alone if he would believe me. "I don't know how else to say this, but I'm not sure honestly. There's a saying from movie that goes 'Only when you have lost everything that you are free to do anything' and in that regard I don't care for materialistic things. I don't want money or jewelry or anything like that from you or anyone else. I just don't want to be wasted. You're the only other being in this entire facility that has ever truly interacted with me, to teach me how to properly use and load a gun; to show me hand to hand combat. You could have just as easily lied to me and ignored me, but you haven't. Regardless of whether you want to kill me or to let me rot here, your actions speak louder than words and that is what I have observed."

"Call it childish, call it whatever you want, all I ask is to be by your side. Nothing more, nothing less." A moment had passed and just when I thought I had him nipped in the bud, willing to let me come with him, he suddenly grabbed my throat as he got in real close, resting a knee on the edge of the couch, placing his other hand on the back of the couch next to my head as he held me down. I swear to god he gets off on choking people, considering the amount of times he's done it, but it was a great form of intimidation, but it did however make me blush seeing as that's the closest he ever gets to me physically. "Well my dear, we'll see just how deep your loyalty lies. Do not disappoint me." He then let go of his grasp as he simply walked back over to his suitcase and picked it up, turning his back to me. "I will not tolerate delays so you'll have to assist me with just the mere clothing and holsters you're wearing." I lit up with glee. He was going to let me come. Finally….finally I would have a chance to start proving my worth to him. I wouldn't have had it any other way. "However if you are going to start directly working under me we can't have you parading around with that ridiculous name of yours. You will need an alias and a fake identity." He paused for a moment before he faced me one last time.

"From now on you will be called…Elena…Mason."


End file.
